


The end of civilisation

by JaffaQueen



Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, first person POV
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:01:42
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 10,185
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25864804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaffaQueen/pseuds/JaffaQueen
Summary: Her mum: an N7. The first human Spectre. Her dad: a major. Second human Spectre. Angelica has always had a confusing life. But her first trip on the Normandy leads to something big. Her mum needs all the help she can get. Will Angelica be able to offer it? A female Shepard Mass Effect Fic in the eyes of her daughter.
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This has been imported in from wattpad, so sorry if there’s any issues with the format or anything! Let me know if there’s problems :) - issy

The beginning  
"Please, Mum, let me come on the Normandy!" I whined as Mum got ready to leave again. It was such a pain having both parents in the alliance, and I so badly wanted to go with them. Mum was the commander of the newest prototype ship, the Normandy, SR-1. Dad was a staff lieutenant, and head of the ship's marine detail. Though I was only 15, I dreamed of being on the Normandy with them, and I knew it was in my blood to join the alliance as soon as I was old enough.  
"I can't, Angie. It's too risky." She said as Dad walked into the room, bags in hand.  
"What harm will a fifteen year old do on a ship, Bert?" He asked, and she sighed.  
"Kaidan..." she muttered, and he raised an eyebrow, before winking at me. I grinned.  
"She'll stay on the ship. It's not like someone's going to randomly attack the Normandy, is it? And she's always wanted to see the ship since we got it." He said. Mum looked at me, reluctance in her eyes, but then she sighed.  
"It's your lucky day. Pack a bag, in case we're out overnight." She said, and I jumped up, before hugging her.  
"Thanks, Mum!" I said, and ran off to pack my bag. I didn't have to worry about school, since I'd been thrown back and forward from my grandparents' home to a flat funded by the alliance in New York. I'd never had a permanent place to stay, so I did online courses and had occasional classes held by the alliance for kids with parents in the alliance, but that didn't happen often. Not that I cared, I wanted to join the alliance as soon as I was old enough anyway. Once I had packed my bag, we left the flat to get to the Normandy, which was docked nearby. When we got there, my jaw dropped at the pure beauty of the ship; it was massive, white, black and red, with SR1 and NORMANDY written on the side. It was beautiful.  
"I take it you like it then, Angie." Dad said with a laugh. Mum boarded and got my permission to come on board. Once permission was granted, I boarded with dad, looking around at everything as I went. I saw the pilot turn and smile at me. I smiled back.  
"Alright, Joker?" Dad asked as he went and sat next to him. I followed Dad as Mum went to speak to the captain, gazing around the cockpit and taking everything in.  
"You must be Angelica! Your Dad doesn't stop talking about you. Or your Mum to be honest. But she's more professional about it." Joker said, and I laughed.  
"Yeah. Call me Angie." I said with a sweet smile. Joker focused his attention back to dad.  
"So where are we headed?" Dad asked him.  
"Eden Prime. Something doesn't seem right about this, though. Do you feel it?" Joker replied and asked.  
"Yeah. I feel it. I hope nothing goes wrong." Dad answered. I went to put my stuff in Mum's footlocker, before I passed Mum and Dad going to put on their armour. My one goal in life was to become an N7, just like Mum. We looked so alike, and we had almost the same personality, apart from I took the sheepishness from Dad. I was also fairly inattentive: I spent a lot of time gazing into the distance or daydreaming.  
"What are we actually doing here, Mum?" I asked as they were about to pass me in the corridor.  
"We're collecting a prothean beacon." She told me, before walking away. I took dad's seat on the bridge, next to Joker.  
"A prothean beacon! How exciting is that?" I exclaimed as I sat down, making myself comfortable.  
"It's cool. But I've still got a bad feeling about this. The whole team does." Joker said, and I pondered on that. I sat in silence for a while, but I couldn't contain myself for long; it was too interesting to not talk about.  
"Prothean, though! And a beacon! I was told they hold information on the end of the race." I said, and Joker laughed.  
"You're really into the prothean stuff, aren't you?" He asked, and I nodded eagerly.  
"I wish I could be down there with Mum and Dad. I'd love to see the beacon while it's there." I said.  
"We're not the only ones here for the beacon. There's geth here." I heard Mum say through the comm.  
"Shit. I knew there was something wrong with all this!" Joker exclaimed.  
"Now I wish I could be down there even more! I'd love to kick some ass!" I said, and Joker sighed.  
"Well, at least you're lightening the mood a bit."


	2. The council meeting

We were waiting for a while. I sat on the bridge the whole time, just waiting for news from down on Eden Prime, and waiting for Mum and Dad to get back.  
"Shepard's down!" Dad said through the comm, urgency in his voice.  
"Shit!" I muttered, as we went in and extracted them. Mum was taken straight to the medical bay upon boarding. I stayed with Dad. They had also bought back a soldier with them, named Ashley. She seemed pretty cool, must have been a good soldier to have survived a Geth attack.  
"What happened, Dad?" I asked, and he sighed.  
"She got pulled in by the beacon's gravitational field, and I don't know what it did, but it did something to her." He explained with a sigh.   
"She'll be fine, though, right? She's Mum." I said, and he nodded.  
"Maybe it wasn't the best idea bringing you with us today. We lost a few good people." He said.  
"It's fine, Dad. If I'm gonna be an N7 like Mum, I've gotta get used to it, right?" I said, and he laughed.  
"That's not what I would say, but sure." He said, patting my shoulder. "If you want to see her, she's in the medical bay. Just try not to disturb Chakwas." He continued, before going back to the bridge. I walked to the medical bay, and entered to see mom asleep on a bed and a doctor making sure her vitals were okay. She heard me come in, and turned around to face me, her eyebrows furrowing in confusing upon seeing me.  
"Oh. You're not a crew member." She stated, and I shook my head.  
"I'm here to see my Mum." I said, and she smiled at me.  
"Of course, Miss Alenko! I was about to say you looked like the commander." She said, as I sat on the bed next to Mum.  
"Actually, I'm a Shepard. Mum and Dad decided that I sounded better as Angelica Shepard instead of Angelica Alenko." I explained, and she nodded.  
"If you're like her, then, I bet you wanted to be down there with her and your Dad." She said, and I laughed.  
"Hell yeah. I would have loved to see the beacon, too." I told her. I sat there until mum finally woke up about 20 minutes later, trying not to disturb the doctor while she worked.  
"Mum, you're awake! Are you alright?" I asked, and she nodded. Doctor Chakwas came back over to us to check Mum over as soon as she heard me say that.  
"How long have I been out?" Mum asked.  
"About two hours. By the looks of it, you're fine, though." Chakwas said, before Captain Anderson walked in.  
"Captain." Mum said.  
"It's nice to meet you, sir. I'm Angelica." I said, and he nodded.  
"I know. Shepard, we need to get to the council. And maybe drop off your daughter." He said, and I sighed.  
"Yeah, we do. How are we gonna do this, though? We need to bring Saren down." Mum replied.  
"Well, we'll take anything we can; we need evidence that the council will accept." Anderson replied.  
"What about the beacon, Mum? Prothean beacons have the ability to show visions." I said.  
"That would explain what I saw then. It looked like people dying." Mum said, and I gasped.  
"God, I wish I'd seen that beacon." I muttered, she laughed weakly.   
"It was kinda scary, Angie." She said to me.  
"Well, we'll meet ambassador Udina when we get to the Citadel. I'll leave you to talk with your girl." Anderson said, before he left the medical bay. Mum looked at me with a frown. She knew what she was gonna say would put me in a bad mood.  
"Angie, I think you should stay on the Citadel when we get there. There's a possibility this has just started something massive, and it's something that I'd prefer you weren't involved in." She said, and I sighed, a frown creeping across my face.  
"You might need me, Mum. I have knowledge on the Protheans. Not much, but it's there." I said.  
"Kaidan, can you come down here?" Mum said through her comm, pausing our conversation until Dad arrived minutes later.  
"Thank god you're awake, Bert." He said, and kissed Mum.  
"What do we do about Angie, Kaidan?" She asked, and he looked at me, before sighing.  
"It's much safer if she stays on the Citadel, or goes back to Earth. She could stay with my Mum and Dad." He said, and I stood up.  
"I don't want to do that, though. I'm fed up with being left behind! I've barely spent any time with you two and I'm already fifteen!" I said with my voice slightly raised, and Mum sighed.  
"I'm sorry, Angie." She said, and I shook my head.  
"Don't you realise this is what I want to do? I've always wanted to follow in your footsteps. And you know I'm capable of doing this stuff!" I said.  
"We'll sort it out when we get to the Citadel."


	3. The citadel

Mum went straight away to the council meeting as soon as we arrived on the citadel, leaving me with Dad. Our conversation had put me in a bad mood, because I wanted to work with Mum and Dad so badly, so I was sulking. As we were getting off the ship, Joker stopped me.  
"Hey, Angie." He called, and I looked over at him.  
"Yeah?" I asked.  
"Come explore the citadel with me. You lightened my mood earlier, the least I can do is lighten yours." He said, and I smiled weakly at him.  
"Alright. But Dad has to come too, or Mum will be pissed." I said; he nodded. Dad walked over.  
"We're gonna explore the citadel. Coming?" Joker asked him, and he nodded. "Alright. Help me up." He said, so I grabbed his hand and pulled him up. I took his arm and helped him off the Normandy.  
"So, what is it you actually have, Joker?" I asked; curiosity had gotten the better of me.  
"Oh, Vrolic Syndrome. Means I've got really brittle bones that break easily." He told me casually; it didn't seem to bother him at all.  
"So we need to help you walk around the citadel?" Dad asked, making him laugh.  
"Basically." Joker replied. Dad and I took an arm each and led him to the wards. As we walked, we looked at our surroundings, since I'd never properly been to the citadel before, and it was definitely a sight to see.  
"Can we go to the bar?" Joker asked; Dad and I laughed.  
"Are you kidding? Bert would kill me if she knew I took our daughter there!" Dad said, making me laugh even more. We ended up at the presidium tower, where Mum and the council were meeting As we went up the steps, we met a Turian C-sec officer, looking for someone. He spotted us and his mandibles clicked; I assumed that was the Turian equivalent of a smile or something, I'd only ever seen a few Turians before.   
"Sorry, have you seen commander Shepard?" He asked, and I nodded with a smile.  
"She's in a meeting with the council about Saren. He's a traitor. You can talk to us, though. I'm Angelica Shepard, and this is Kaidan Alenko. Let's not forget Joker." I said, and he smiled as a greeting.  
"Perfect. What do you know about what happened on Eden Prime?" He asked us.  
"Saren killed Nihlus Kyrik." Dad answered, and the officer sighed.  
"I knew it. Nihlus will be missed. Sorry for not introducing myself, I'm Garrus Vakarian." He said, and I smiled at him again.  
"Nice to meet you, Garrus." I said.  
"Anything else happen on Eden Prime?" He asked us, continuing with his questions.  
"We think Saren is working with the Geth. The whole place was swarming when we got there." Dad said, and Garrus shook his head disappointedly.  
"I expected more of Saren..." he muttered.  
"Don't forget the beacon! Mum found a prothean beacon on Eden Prime. She got a vision from it." I explained, and just when timing couldn't be any better, Mum approached us, coming down the steps with eyebrows furrowed but smiling upon seeing us, with Ashley at her side.  
"Oh, made a new friend, Angie?" She asked; I nodded with a smile.  
"This is Garrus." I said. She turned to him.  
"I take it you're the one looking for me?" She asked, and he nodded.  
"I'd like to help you bring down Saren." He said straightening himself to look more professional.  
"And what can you do to help?" She asked.  
"I'm a c-sec officer. And a sniper." He answered.  
"Alright. Welcome aboard, I guess. Any ideas where we can start?" Mum asked.  
"I may have an idea." He said, before Mum turned to me.  
"Angie. I'm sorry, but I need you to stay on the citadel for a bit. Go to the cafe with Joker or something. I'll give you some freedom, though. Kaidan, you come with me." She said, and I sighed.  
"Alright, mum." I said. Joker smiled at me.  
"I'll look after her, commander." He said, and Mum nodded. We left the presidium, leaving Mum, Dad, Ashley and Garrus.  
"Hey, I've got an idea." Joker said as we got into the lift.  
"What?" I asked.  
"Let's go to the club. I know it'll piss off your Mum, but she doesn't have to know, does she?" He asked, and I laughed.  
"How will I get in?" I asked, one eyebrow raised.  
"I'll tel them I need you with me because you're my carer." He answered with a smirk. The lift doors opened and we walked back out into the wards, before I helped him to the club, and the Turian bouncers stopped us at the door.  
"Persons under the age of 18 are not allowed into the club, ma'am." One said to us.  
"Oh, she's my carer. I have Vrolic syndrome, so I need someone supporting me when I'm out and about." Joker said, and the Turian looked at us, before sighing.  
"Ok. Go on in. We'll be keeping a watch, though." He said, and opened the door for us. We went in, and sat at a table.  
"Alright. Want a drink?" Joker asked, and I laughed.  
"Mum will kill me!" I exclaimed.  
"Mum doesn't have to know, does she?"


	4. My mum’s a spectre, what’s yours?

We waited for hours. It was fun being in the club, Joker buying drinks and just enjoying himself. I was enjoying myself too. I only had one small drink, because I was worried that Mum would find out, but Joker had two. He realised that if he was taking me back to Mum, he needed to at least look sober.  
"So, what's your plan? You're obviously gonna find a way to work with your mum." Joker asked, and I chuckled.  
"I don't know yet. I need to prove that I can fight, though. Maybe I'll join a training class for the alliance. But I think Mum needs a push to see what I can do." I said almost cockily.  
"Alright. The crew like you, so I think you'll definitely be welcome on the Normandy. You can join me and your Dad on the bridge!" He said, and I smiled.  
"That would be fun." I said with a smile   
"You know what? I'm gonna call you Gellie. Because it reminds me of jelly." He said, and I laughed. Was that a drunk thought or a sober thought, though?  
"Alright then." I said, a bit confused but it was fine. We sat for a bit longer, before Joker's comm buzzed.  
"Can you bring Angie up to the presidium? It's urgent." Dad said through the comm. I stood up, before helping Joker up and walking him out of the club. We caught a lift up to the presidium, where we met dad, Garrus and a Quarian who wore a purple envirosuit.   
"What's going on?" I asked dad, and he smiled.  
"Bert's becoming a spectre." He said, and I grinned.  
"Oh my god!" I said with excitement in my tone, and Dad laughed.  
"Quick. Let's watch." He said, and we walked up to the council area, where Mum was standing and talking to the council.  
"Commander Bert Shepard. We are appointing the spectre status to you. Congratulations." The Asari councillor said. I couldn't help but smile at them all. The Turian councillor chuckled momentarily, looking at me then back to Mum.  
"Looks like your daughter is pleased about this." He said, as I ran up to Mum and hugged her.  
"I'm so proud, Mum!" I exclaimed, making her laugh.  
"Thanks, Angie." She said. We left the council area and went back down to dad and the others, who were all waiting for us.  
"Alright. Let's get started." Mum said, and so we walked back to the Normandy.

"Where are you headed, Mum?" I asked, and she sighed, looking at me.  
"No-where you are, Angie. I need to find everything I can against Saren." She told me.  
"Mum, please! Let me prove to you that I can fight. Let me prove that I'm worth having with you!" I said, and Mum poked a finger at me.  
"You are 15, Angelica! I'm not bringing you with me!" She shouted.  
"I can help!" I shouted back.  
"Don't shout at me, Angelica Kathrine Shepard! You can't help me, and you won't for a long time!" She shouted, and I gasped. I leaned back against the wall, as she had stepped closer to me. A single tear rolled down my left cheek.   
"What's going on here?" Dad said as he approached.  
"Look, I'm sorry, Angie. But you can't come with me. I don't want to lose you." Mum said, all traces of anger in her voice gone.  
"Shit. You two had a fight, didn't you?" Dad asked, and I nodded, before I wiped the tear from my cheek and walked away. I went to the airlock, and got off the ship. I was about to leave the docking bay, when I heard Dad calling for me.  
"Angie! Angie, wait!" He called, and I stopped walking. He ran to me, and I turned to face him.  
"I'm sorry you have to stay, Angie. But your Mum has a point. She cares about you, Angie. And so do I. Maybe one day you'll come with us. But for now, stay on the citadel. I believe the alliance are providing a flat for us." He said, and I sighed.  
"I'll miss you, Dad. Just tell Mum when she needs my help I'll be here. Just researching prothean beacons, and... well, prothean stuff I guess." I said, and hugged him.  
"I'll miss you too, sweetheart. We'll be back soon." He said to me, and I watched as he walked back to the Normandy. He turned and waved at me when he reached the ship, before getting in. So I watched as my parents departed yet again, leaving me behind as usual.


	5. The boy

Feeling defeated, I went back to the cafe on the Citadel. Mum had left me her credit account, so I ordered a drink, and sat at a table with my data pad, researching and browsing on it. I had an omni-tool, but I used that for important stuff, such as messages from Mum or Dad. The cafe was busy, people were constantly trying to take chairs from or sit at my table. I would let them take the chairs, of course, but I wasn't letting them sit at my table. When I looked up, From the corner of my eye, I noticed two boys looking over at me as I sipped my tea. They were both roughly the same height; one had curly ginger hair and the other short blonde hair. I noticed that one of the boys; the one with the curly finger hair, began to walk towards me. I looked down at my data pad, making it seem I hadn't noticed, until he was right next to me.  
"Um, excuse me..." He said, and I immediately fell in love with his smooth Scottish accent. I looked up at him and he nervously ran his fingers through his curly hair. I noticed he had green eyes; coloured like a forest or an orchard of perfectly grown apples. We looked Into each other's eyes for a few seconds, before I realised I needed to respond to him.  
"Yeah? Can I help you?" I asked as sweetly as I could.  
"My friend over there and I have a bet going that you're the human Spectre's daughter." He said, which made me laugh. News travels fast on the citadel, clearly.  
"Who bet that I wasn't?" I asked, and he pointed towards his blonde friend. "Tell him he owes you some credits, then." I said, and he grinned.  
"Really?" He asked, and I pushed the one remaining vacant chair for him. He sat down and turned to fully face me.  
"Yep. I'm Angelica Shepard." I said, and smiled at him.  
"Wow... your Mum must be pretty cool." He said, and I nodded.  
"I guess she is. But she left me here. Says it's too dangerous to take me along." I said, and he laughed again.  
"That does make some sense. My Dad's in the alliance too. He's not a commander like your Mum, though. He leaves me here all the time with my sister." He said.  
"What about your Mum?" I asked, and he frowned.  
"She died when I was young." He said.  
"Oh. Sorry." I said.  
"It's alright. I'm Maxmillian Grove. But call me Max." He said, and I smiled again.  
"Call me Angie, then." I told him, and we sat silent for a few minutes, unsure what to say next, but it didn't feel awkward to me.  
"Do stop me if this sounds preposterous, but I know a few places that are out-of-bounds to locals and visitors if you wanted to come and trespass with me..." He said, and I laughed.  
"I'd love to. But how old are you? I need to know, in case we get caught, or something like that..." I said.  
"I'm fifteen. Like you, I'm guessing." He said, and we stood up, both of us smiling.  
"Alright, lets go." I said, and followed him out of the cafe. Only then did I notice his friend had left- he'd obviously gotten bored of waiting for him.

We went to loads of places we shouldn't have for the rest of the afternoon, And I enjoyed it. Something about rebelling made me feel more confident. When it got late, Max took me back to meet his sister, but she wasn't home. She'd left a note on the side, saying:  
"Gone out with the girls. Food's in the fridge. Or get takeout if you want."  
Max turned to me after he read the note and smiled.  
"Do you want to stay and get takeout with me?" He asked, and I nodded eagerly. How could I refuse a takeout? We ordered the food and watched tv as we waited for it to arrive. When it did, We ate, then relaxed on the sofa together. It was nice. I liked Max. After a while I got up and prepared to leave; it was getting late and I needed to head home.  
"We should do this again sometime." I said, and Max nodded, standing up to see me out.  
"I'd like that. It's nice having you around." He said as I walked towards the door. I stopped at the door, and tapped a few things on my omni-tool. He looked at me patiently, eyebrows slightly furrowed. Then I looked up at him again.  
"I've sent you my contact number. Send me a message whenever you're free." I said as his omni-tool buzzed and he looked down at it. I smiled at him one last time, before I walked out and went back to my new flat.


	6. Joining the crew

Once I got out of the skycar at the entrance to the apartment block, I opened the door and walked into my new home. It seemed strange living alone at 15, since I'd always stayed at My Grandparents' home in Canada, But I liked the freedom the apartment gave me; it made me feel independent and confident. I looked around, noticing there was also a bedroom for mum and dad, so when they got back they could stay with me; after all I wasn't old enough to live on my own permanently, I just had permission from Mum and Dad for once. It really was a good apartment; there was a spacious grey kitchen, with an island counter and some stools to sit and eat as well as a table. The lounge was spacious too; there was a grey couch in the centre facing a decent sized tv. After full inspection of the apartment, I went to bed, in my new bedroom, which was small but cozy (I even had a double bed!) and slept through the night peacefully. It’s surprising how well you sleep when there’s skycars passing constantly.

Days passed, and I spent most of my time with Max. I'd made a friend, something I was never able to do when I was being moved around all the time, so it felt new but in a good way to me. I liked Max. He came to my apartment half the time, but the other half of the time we were out exploring the citadel: he knew all the best places to go. One day, we just sat and talked in my apartment because we didn't really fancy going out or doing much that day; we were done with exploring the citadel for a while.  
"So, Max, what do you want to do in the future?" I asked, and he smiled at me, not even needing to take a moment to think about what he was going to say next.  
"I'm glad you asked. I want to be a doctor. Preferably for the alliance; on a vessel maybe. I start the training next year hopefully." He said. I stared into his eyes intently as he talked, showing my interest in what he was telling me.   
"Wow. Maybe we could end up working together!" I said, and he laughed.  
"Maybe. What do you want to do?" He asked.  
"Since I can remember, it's been my goal to become an N7. I want to command like my Mum, maybe even become a spectre like her!" I said.  
"Your Mum really is amazing, Angie. And so are you." He said, making me blush. To distract myself from what had been said I stood up, and grabbed some glasses, filling them with the wine Max had taken from his apartment in hopes his sister wouldn't notice. I handed him one, and sat back down.  
"Here's to achieving our goals." I said, and we clinked our glasses, before downing the glasses and putting them on the table.  
"Are you sure your sister won't notice the wine is gone?" I asked, and he nodded.  
"I'll take it back, and make her think she's drunk some of it already." He said, which made me smile.  
"Smart." I said, and we both laughed. I looked out of the window at the people passing by.  
"I can't wait to reach 16." I said.  
"Me neither, as long as we're still alive and friends. Maybe more." Max said, and I smiled.  
"You're sweet, Max. I like you." I said, and he laughed.  
"I like you too." He said, and we sat silent for a minute. Suddenly, the door opened to reveal Dad, who had a massive grin on his face.   
"Dad!" I said, jumping up to greet him. He hugged me, before looking at Max as I let go.  
"Who's this?" He asked, and Max approached.  
"I'm Max. Nice to meet you." Max said, shaking Dad's hand.  
"You too." He said quickly to Max, before turning to me. "Your Mum and I have a surprise for you, Angie. Come with me." He said, so Max said goodbye and left, whilst dad went and did something else. He came out with a bag and smiled at me.  
"You ready, Angie?" He asked, and I nodded. He walked me to the Normandy, not telling me where we were going.  
"Where's Mum? Has she taken down Saren already?" I asked, and dad laughed.  
"Be patient, Angie." He said. We walked to the docking bay and I saw the Normandy; a smile spread across my face. I loved the ship so much, even from only being on it once. The airlock opened and we got onboard.  
"Hey, Gellie!" Joker said, and I smiled at him, before Dad led me to the briefing room. Mum was standing there, with her team, now consisting of Garrus, Tali, a Krogan called Wrex, Ashley and an Asari called Liara. They all smiled at me.  
"Angie." Garrus said, and I smiled at him.  
"Mum, what's going on?" I asked as Dad put his hand on my shoulder, supporting me like he always did.  
"Well, I've got a team here. But it's missing one important part." She said, and I raised an eyebrow.  
"What's that?" I asked, and mum grinned at me.  
"You." She said, and I gasped.  
"No way." I said, and mum laughed.  
"Yes way, Angie. I realised you could help with your knowledge of the Prothean Beacons, and work alongside Liara here. Welcome aboard." She said, and I hugged her.  
"Thanks, Mum!" I said, before frowning.  
"But I'm underage. You can't join the alliance until you're 18.” I said.  
"Do you think I care? I'm a spectre, Angie. I do what I want." Mum told me. The team all welcomed me, and I realised most of them weren't alliance. Mum did what she wanted. And I loved that. I was finally part of her team.


	7. Feros

"So, where are we headed?" I asked Mum as the crew left the breifing room, leaving us alone.  
"Feros. Apparently there's Geth all over the place, and I need to know why." She said.  
"Maybe it's something to do with ExoGeni." I said, and she nodded. I'd researched ExoGeni in the past when I’d gotten bored, so I knew that they did experiments at their base on Feros, which was right next to a colony.  
"Possibly. Oh, I've set up a locker for you, and talk to me or your dad if you need anything. After all, this is my ship now." She said, and I smiled.  
"Thanks, Mum. I'll let you get back to work." I said, and left the meeting room. I took my stuff to my locker, before heading to the quarters. I sat at the table with my datapad. I did a bit of research on the protheans, before dad came and sat with me, a smile on his face.  
"Hey, Angie. You settling in okay?" He asked, and I nodded.  
"I think so. The atmosphere's great on this ship. I might go say hi to Joker, or share my knowledge with Liara... either way I'll be welcome. It's great!" I said, and he laughed.  
"I get that. Do you what you want, Angie. You're a born spacer. This is where you belong." He told me, and I smiled.  
"I feel like I'm part of the crew already. Even if I'm not alliance." I said, and with that Dad stood up.  
"Well, we're almost at Feros. You can go and sit with Joker while your mum's out. I might be out too, but I don't know yet. Just... relax." He said, and patted my shoulder, before walking away. Once he was gone I got up and I walked up to the cockpit, and sat in dad's place, next to Joker.  
"Hey, Gellie! Here to watch the show?" He asked, and I laughed.  
"You know it. I'm back, and here to stay." I said.  
"Well, this time it's not too exciting. We're docking at the Zhu's Hope colony. We'll alert commander Shepard of the geth activity." He said, and I nodded.  
"Sweet. I can do that. Who's mum taking with her?" I asked.  
"Umm... Your dad and the Asari, I think." He said.  
"Alright. I'll stay here, if that's ok." I said, and he smiled at me.  
"Yeah, that's fine. It's nice having someone so bubbly around." He said. When I came onboard the Normandy for the first time, Joker and I clicked. We just got along, and it was great. Mum left the Normandy, to be greeted by Geth almost immediately.  
"Hey, I have an idea. How about you take the comm, Gellie. I think you'll do well." Joker said after a minute or two of silence, and I nodded. He gave me what I needed and I grinned.  
"This is Normandy to Shore party, Angelica Shepard has the comm." Joker said, before passing to me.  
"Hi Mum! Hi Dad! I love you both! Good luck!" I said. There was no reply, but I was expecting that. Everything was calm, but eventually we noticed that more Geth were heading to Mum.  
"Hey, mum... Mum? Uh, Commander, do you copy?" I asked, waiting for a response.  
"I copy, Angie. What's the problem?" Mum asked.  
"There's more Geth headed your way. So I hope you're ready to continue the fight." I said. Joker nodded encouragingly at me.  
"Great. Thanks, Angie." She said. I smiled at Joker.  
"Good job, Gellie! That was great." He said, and I laughed.  
"Thanks! It's no big deal really, though." I said, and he laughed.  
"Alright, smartass." He said. We waited for Mum, until frantic colonists started to scramble to our ship and try to get inside.  
"Umm, what's going on?" I asked, looking out of the window onto the docking bay.  
"I don't really know. Alert commander Shepard though." Joker answered, and I nodded.  
"Mum? Would you mind picking up the pace maybe? There's frantic colonists trying to get into the ship." I said into the comm.  
"Alright. I'm almost done here, Angie. Tell the crew they're all safe, they won't be able to get into the ship." Mum replied. I got up and went to Pressly.  
"Hey, Pressly, alert the crew that there is a... situation outside, but we are safe." I told him, and he nodded.  
"Will do. Thanks, Shepard." He said. I went back and sat with Joker until Mum, Dad and Liara returned. As soon as Mum returned to the CIC, I approached her.  
"What happened down there?" I asked, and she sighed.  
"It's a long story."


	8. Noveria

Mum explained what happened to me as we were on our way to Noveria, where there were reports of Geth activity, and there was word that Saren’s ally, Matriarch Benezia, was there. She described what the Thorian was, and what it did to the poor colonists of Zhu's hope. I didn't realise that ExoGeni were so awful, risking lives of innocent people for an experiment. It disgusted me. We were briefed, and Mum shared her knowledge of the vision she had with Liara. We all sat and watched the exchange curiously. When they were done, Liara spoke.  
"That's definitely the extinction of the Protheans, Commander. It's amazing, never in my time have I seen anything like this, or even imagined that the protheans fell to a sentient race!" She said, and I grinned.  
"That's amazing! So the beacons show what happened to the protheans. It's so interesting." I said, and Liara nodded In agreement with me.  
"What this race might be, I have no clue. The possibilities are endless." She said, before placing her hand on her forehead and sighing. Mum sent her to lie down, before dismissing everyone else. As she went to leave with dad, I stopped them.  
"Mum, do you mind if I make a call in here?" I asked, and she smiled.  
"I leave you for what, a week? And you've made friends! I'm proud of you Angie." She said, and I laughed. Dad smiled at me, before leaving me and Mum in the briefing room. Mum walked over to the communications controls and pressed a few buttons.  
"So who is it?" She asked.  
"His name is Max. He lives near our flat." I said, and mum laughed.  
"A boy! Wow, Angie, you're really out there!" She exclaimed, and I laughed.  
"He's really nice, mum. You'd like him." I said.  
"I'm sure I would, Sweetheart." She replied. "Alright, all yours. Just put in his comm number." She said, and patted my shoulder, before leaving the room. I made the call.  
"Hello?" Max asked, his Scottish accent welcoming me.  
"Max, it's me." I said.  
"Oh, Hi, Angie! What's up?" He asked.  
"Nothing much really. I'm on the Normandy, though." I said, and heard a laugh.  
"That's so cool, Angie! I'm jealous." He said, and I laughed.  
"It is cool. I'll have to bring you onboard one day." I said.  
"I'd like that." He said.  
"Umm, I don't know when I'll be back though, Max." I said.  
"That doesn't matter. I'll be waiting for you, Angie. It's not like I can go anywhere." He said, and I laughed.  
"That's true." I said. Mum walked in again, clearly only wanting to tell me something quickly as she wasn’t waiting for me to end the conversation with Max.  
"Angie, we're almost at Noveria." She informed me, before leaving again.  
"Max, I have to go. I'll call again if something exciting happens." I said, and ended the call. It felt good to talk to Max. I left the Briefing room and stood by the CIC as we came into the docking bay.  
"Angie, you can come out if you want. Do some shopping or something." Mum said, and I smiled.  
"Sweet. I'll get ready." I said. I walked off and grabbed a few credits, and put on a coat. I left the Normandy with Mum, Garrus and Liara.  
"What are we looking for, mum?" I asked as we approached the entrance to the main area.  
"I'm not really sure, Angie. We'll find out when we get inside. When we got to the door, we were stopped by guards. they queried mum's identity, before telling us to hand over our weapons.  
"Oh, don't worry about me, I'm unarmed. Why would a 15 year old be armed?" I asked. what they didn't know is that I had a pistol hidden in my pocket. They let us through, and I couldn't help but smile.  
"Why are you smiling, Angie?" Liara asked.  
"Because I'm on Noveria! This is all new to me." I said, but that wasn't the truth. It was because I had a gun on me. Mum went to talk to a Turian, named Lorik Qui'in. An Asari stopped me as he walked in.  
"I'm assuming your mother is not interested in doing a job for me, so I'm going to ask you. What do you know about science?" She asked me.  
"A lot for a fifteen year old. What specifically are you wanting?" I asked.  
"I need you to talk to that businessman over there, so I can get data from him. He works for Binary Helix." She said, and pointed at a man with brown hair. I smiled.  
"Alright. I'm in. Just tell me what you want me to say.”


	9. The binary Helix conversation

After talking to the Asari in the bar and got all the job details, I walked over to the man, and smiled at him.  
"You're a bit young, aren't you, Sweetheart?" He asked, and I glared at him.  
"Don't call me sweetheart. It's Shepard." I said, and he raised an eyebrow.  
"As in Commander Shepard? You can't be. She's older." He said, and I laughed.  
"She's my mum. Now, I'm here to talk business." I said, and he laughed.  
"Alright, Miss Shepard. What are you interested in purchasing?" He asked, and I laughed.  
"I'm not buying, sir. I have like 10 credits. I'm here to learn. You see, I'm interested in working for Binary Helix when I'm old enough." I said sweetly.   
"Alright. What do you want to learn then?" He asked. This started a long conversation about the company, and I bluffed for long enough to get the info the Asari wanted. I went back to her when the conversation ended and I had been informed that she has what she needed.   
"Nice skills, young Shepard. I'll know who to call when I need some bluffing again." She said, and transferred some credits to my account as payment. I thanked her, and sat down at a table. Mum had left the bar already, so I assumed she was doing something important. I knew she was here to find someone, so she was probably following up on that. When I went to leave the bar as I’d gotten bored of sitting around and waiting, some men stepped into the lift with me, all armoured. I looked at them one by one. They all looked tough, possibly hired mercenaries, with grim looks on their faces.  
"Gentlemen." I said, as the lift doors closed. I wouldn’t admit it, but they made me seriously nervous.  
"You're the Spectre's daughter." One of the men said, and I could tell they weren't there to have a nice conversation. They wanted something from me.  
"I.. uh... I don't know what you're talking about." I said, and the men closed in on me.  
"Don't lie, Miss Shepard. Your mum's causing trouble for Saren. So We're gonna stop her, through you. Say goodbye to your future, princess." He said, and I tried to step back. I went straight into one of the thugs behind me. I was stuck. Then I remembered the pistol. I smiled, as the nerves had dissipated.  
"What are you smiling at?" The leader said.  
"Oh nothing. It's just that you think I'm stupid." I said, and as he went to grab me, I grabbed my gun and pointed it at him. I thought it was hopeless, but it was worth a shot. When the other thugs tried to grab me, I punched them, giving a few kicks here and there. Then, out of nowhere, I discovered I was a biotic, using some sort of stasis to temporarily freeze the thugs around me. I let out a scream, as the new Biotic ability shocked me. I never knew I was a biotic before that moment. The main thug stood back in shock, and I pointed my gun at him.  
"Let me tell you something. I am a Shepard. And everyone knows you must be stupid to mess with the Shepards. Plus, I'm biotic. And I can use this gun, trust me. So run while you can." I said, as intimidating as I could. He laughed.  
"You think you can scare me, Princess?" He asked, and I smiled.  
"Yeah. I'm an untrained Biotic. There's no saying what could happen next. And now I'm thinking maybe I should shoot you right here, right now." I said, trying to scare him.  
"That's illegal." He said, and I laughed.  
"My mum is a spectre. She can sort things out. So go. Now." I said, pointing the gun at his head. The lift doors opened and he stepped out, leaving me in the most orderly fashion he could. I then ran to the Normandy, anxious that I would hurt someone. I had no idea how to control my Biotics, it was terrifying to know that anything could happen next seeing as I didn’t even know how to trigger the biotic ability I had just used. I boarded the ship, and caught my breath.  
"Gellie? What's up?" Joker asked, and I sighed.  
"I... I need to talk to dad." I said, and made my way to where I knew dad would be in the crew quarters. He was doing some engineering, I assumed.  
"Dad! Dad, help." I said in a panicked tone as I jogged over to him. He stood up and looked at me.  
"What, Angie? What's wrong?" He asked. I was shaking, so he sat me down.  
"Angie?" He asked, and I sighed, trying to calm myself down.  
"I... I got attacked. Some thugs working for Saren. And..." I stuttered, lost for words.  
"Oh my god, Angie..." He said, hugging me.  
"That's not it, dad. I'm biotic." I said, and he gasped.  
"What? You... you're Biotic? Like me?" He asked, and I nodded, biting my lip.  
"Jesus. How did this happen? It's not genetic. I don't remember Bert being exposed to Eezo... don't worry, sweetheart. Let's get you an Implant. Hopefully Dr Chakwas can sort it for you." He said, and I smiled.  
"Thanks, dad."


	10. Biotics

Once I had spoken to Dad he said we could see if Dr Chakwas could help us. Dr Chakwas surprisingly had an l3 implant, but we knew it could be dangerous.  
"It's the only choice we have, Angie. We need to get your Biotics under control. And after that, I can train you. If we get it done quickly, Mum won't even notice." Dad said, and I laughed.  
"Fine. Let's do it now, so I can get things under control.” I said, and before I knew it I was undergoing surgery. Apparently it only lasted about 20 minutes, and I felt fine by the time Mum got back. I just had a bit of a headache, so I went to bed. We decided it was best to keep it secret until I had my biotics under control, and when I woke up later that evening, we were up in space again. I climbed out of bed and went to dad.  
"Dad. It's normal to get headaches like these, right?" I asked, rubbing my temples gingerly, and he nodded.  
"You've got a newer implant than me, so the side effects won't be as bad. You'll just get those headaches every so often." He said, and I sighed.  
"Thank god. I thought there was a problem." I said. He looked over my shoulder, so I turned around to see Mum.  
"Hey Mum." I said, smiling at her.  
"Angie! You feeling better now?" She asked, and I nodded.  
"I just had a bit of a headache." I said. Dad kissed Mum on the cheek.  
"How was Noveria?" He asked.  
"Alright. Liara's a bit upset, though. Her mum died." She explained.  
"That's so sad. Was it her mum you were looking for?” I asked, and mum frowned while nodding.  
"Yeah. well we knew she'd be indoctrinated when we got there, so it had to happen." She explained.  
"Alright. I hope Liara will be okay. I'm gonna head up to the briefing room to talk to Max." I said, and walked away, leaving Mum and dad to talk. Mum didn't need to know about my biotics for now.

"Hey, Joker, can you make sure this conversation is one hundred percent private? So like Mum can't check it?" I asked through the briefing room comm.  
"Sure, Gellie. Anything for you." He said. I called Max straight away.  
"Hey Max." I said tiredly, ready to be woken up properly by his voice.  
"Angie! How are you?" He asked, and there was the accent that warmed me up inside and made me immediately feel better. A Scottish accent did wonders, clearly.  
"I'm okay, Max. How are you?" I asked.  
"Good!" He said, waiting then for me to tell him about my day.  
"I discovered on Noveria today that I'm a biotic, Max. It was, uh, surprising.” I explained, and he gasped.  
"No way! That's so cool." He said, and I laughed.  
"Dad's gonna train me. Mum doesn't know, though. I don't want to cause trouble while she’s dealing with Saren.” I said.  
"She'll find out at some point, Angie. Sooner or later." He said.  
"Yeah. I'll see you again soon, Max." I said, and hung up on him. I left the briefing room and went to see Joker for our usual conversation in the cockpit.  
"Hey, Gellie. Everything okay?" He asked as I sat down in dad's seat.  
"Yeah, I think so." I said.  
"Just chilling here, then." He said, and I nodded.  
"I like seeing where we're headed. Looking out at the stars and so on." I said, and he laughed.  
"That's why I'm a pilot, Gellie. It's a great job." He said, and I smiled.  
"I always wanted to be up in space. Now I'm here, it's everything, maybe more than I imagined." I said, gazing out at the vast expanse outside the windows, the stars all twinkling as we drifted through space. Mum walked in just as I had finished talking.  
"Everything all right up here, Joker?" She asked, and he turned to look at her.  
"Yeah. I was just talking to Gellie about the stars." He said, and mum approached, before looking out of the window.  
"They're beautiful. Space is so peaceful." She said, and I nodded in agreement.  
"It really is. Until the fighting starts. I hope to avoid the Geth borders." I said, and she laughed.  
"Yeah, that's somewhere you don't wanna go. You should get to bed, Angie. It's late, and your dad said he wanted to do something with you while I'm on a mission tomorrow, so you need a good night’s sleep." She said, and I stood up.  
"Yeah, okay Mum. Night, Joker." I said, walking away as I talked.  
"See ya, Gellie!" He called back. I went to my bed, and slept the night away, as peacefully as I could. I was restless; the headaches were worse again so I struggled. But when I woke in the morning, I was absolutely fine. I found dad in the cargo bay, leaning on the Mako.  
"Alright, Angie? Ready to start training?"


	11. Virmire

The training with dad was harder than I thought. We worked for a few days, and I picked things up quite quickly, but it was still very straining on the mind. He taught me how to do a simple stasis, and I learned a lift and a slam, but it took a while to get the hang of the slam because I had to do the lift first. We trained whenever dad was available, until we had a distress call from a team of salarians on Virmire. I was training with dad when Mum joined us in the shuttle bay. I was using a lift on a crate when Mum walked in, so I quickly stopped, letting the crate crash to the floor.  
"Kaidan, we've gotta move. And Angie, were you doing that lift?" She asked, and I shook my head.  
"Why would I be a biotic?" I asked innocently, before dad stepped forward.  
"That was me, Bert. Angie was curious to see what my Biotics were like. She said it was for research... or something like that." He said, and I nodded hastily.  
"Ok. Well, we've had a distress call from Virmire. Something's going on down there." Mum said, and he nodded.  
"I'll get ready." He said, and walked away, leaving me with mum.  
"Angie, come with me." She said, and I followed her to the CIC, where there were crew members rushing around and checking things on the monitors.   
"Stand at the galaxy map for me." She said, and I did so. I looked down at the map, spread out perfectly. It looked beautiful, I hoped one day a map and CIC like this would be my own."Now find Virmire for me." She said, and I did so. "Perfect. Now I'll plot the course." She said, so I stepped out of the way.  
"The galaxy map is so cool, mum! And the ship looks awesome from this point." I said, and she laughed.  
"It does. Right, I'm gonna go and get ready. You can go and sit with Joker if you want." She said, so we parted ways. When we got to Virmire, we ended up grounded at a salarian base.   
"Um, don't want to bother you, Mum, but we're grounded." I said on the comm.  
"Oh. Ok, Angie, Thank you." She said. Before long there was a plan, and we had a bomb on our ship to plant in the base. They ungrounded the Normandy, and the fighting started. There was two different teams, Mum, Garrus and Liara were the shadow team, and the salarians and Ash were the distraction. There was lots of fighting to get the ship and Mum to the same location. Not for us, obviously, but for Mum. Dad was on the ship with us, as he was the bomb planter and specialist. We got the Normandy to the location, and planted the bomb. Mum arrived shortly after, and dad had been injured. Geth were trying to stop him from setting the bomb, but Mum and her team got them before they could. Then then went on a bit to find Ash, but there wasn't enough time. Ash was left behind. Mum came back to the ground, where more Geth began to attack. Then Saren showed up. I gasped as I watched on. They were taking heavy fire from all of them, and I couldn't just sit around and watch.  
"Joker, I need to get off the ship." I said urgently.  
"What? Gellie, Commander Shepard will kill me if I let you off the ship!" He exclaimed.  
"I can fight, Joker. I'm a biotic! Let me off the ship." I said, and he sighed.  
"Exit through the shuttle bay. Quickly." He said in resignation, and I ran as swiftly as I could out of the ship. I lifted a group of Geth and slammed another group, before Sprinting to mum and the team. Liara handed me her spare pistol and I shot some other Geth, while Mum fought Saren. I looked at dad, and he smiled at me. I used a stasis on a group of Geth, and ran to dad.  
"We need to get you onto the ship, dad." I said, ducking behind the bomb and occasionally shooting Geth. Saren took off and Mum looked back at us. I helped dad up, and we walked to ship as quickly as we could, before taking off and leaving Virmire. As dad was getting medical treatment, Mum found me talking to him in the medical Bay.  
"I'm proud of you, Angie. That was very brave of you." He said, and I sighed.  
"Mum's not gonna be happy, though." I said as she walked in.  
"Angie, we need to talk. Now." She said, and I turned to her.  
"Ok..." I said, and she sighed.  
"That was so dangerous, Angie! You can't just leave the ship and help us! I was so scared you'd get killed!" She shouted, and I stood silently.  
"Sorry, mum. I didn't want to lose you or dad." I muttered, looking down at the floor almost embarrassedly.  
"It's not good enough, Angie. You leave the ship if I say you can, and especially not during a fight with Saren!" She shouted again, and I sighed.  
"I just wanted to help." I said quietly. Mum sighed.  
"I know, sweetheart. But you can't do that. Also, why didn't you tell me you're a biotic?"


	12. Ilos

As soon as dad was ok, we went to the briefing room. Everyone was waiting, and so we took our seats, ready to start. I looked at the empty ones, where Ash and Wrex used to sit. Virmire was difficult for everyone, especially now we’d lost two of our own. As we sat in silence, we mourned their deaths. I never knew Ash well, but I knew she had become close to everyone on the ship, so I paid my respects. Come to think of it, I didn’t really know Wrex either but I still mourned. Mum was the first to break the silence.  
"Where do we go from here?" She asked.  
"Well, you said the conduit is on Ilos?" Liara asked, and she nodded. "Then that's where we go."  
"Yeah." She said. Garrus looked at me, the Turian equivalent of a smile on his face.  
"Never knew you were a biotic, Angie. You did well, too." He said, and I smiled back.  
"I only found out when we were on Noveria. Some thugs tried to attack me, and I put them in some kind of stasis. Scared the shit out of me." I said.  
"Angie!" Mum said sharply, but dad laughed weakly.  
"She's Good because I trained her." He said confidently, and Garrus laughed.  
"Alright. Maybe she would be better if Liara trained her, though." He said, and I laughed, watching dad’s smile turn to a frown after the insult came.  
"Right, back to me, guys. We need to get to Ilos as soon as possible." Mum said, and the team nodded. "Also, we should set up a memorial for Ash and Wrex onboard. They were known well by all of us, and Ash died a hero." She continued. We all agreed with her again.  
"She was truly a great person to know." Liara said. We'd lost Wrex too on Ilos, but it seemed the main focus was Ash.  
"I didn't know her well, but I know she was such a brave woman." I added, and Mum nodded.  
"She was. Alright, let's get to Ilos. Dismissed." She said, and the rest of the team apart from us and dad left the room. Dad was looking at the floor.  
"Dad, are you ok?" I asked, and mum turned to look at him.  
"Yeah, yeah. I just can't help but think that it should have been me instead of Ash that..." he trailed off, and Mum sighed.  
"Kaidan, you know I could never choose Ash over you. You're my daughter's father. I don't know what I'd do without you." She said, and I nodded.  
"Don't talk like that, dad. I'd be broken if you died." I said, and watched as he stood up, before hugging Mum.  
"Sorry. I just couldn't help it." He muttered.  
"It's ok, Kaidan. We're all being hit hard by her death." She said soothingly. Dad then hugged me.  
"Sorry, Angie. I’ll be okay soon, I promise, it’s just a bit of a shock losing two people in the same day. Also, those biotics were good. I think you're ready for a barrier too." He said, and I smiled.  
"That can wait until after Ilos." I said. We left the briefing room, and Mum plotted the course to Ilos, before we all went to bed. I slept restlessly, waking up about 4 times with nightmares of losing more people, but I didn't want to worry anyone, so I kept it to myself and tried to sleep as much as possible.

We dropped Mum on Ilos, with dad and Garrus, before heading to the Citadel that next morning. The citadel was where Saren was headed with his Geth, and we were supposedly going to fight a reaper. I didn't know much about the reapers, but I knew they weren't good. Liara told me that they were an Ancient race, and that they were the reason the Protheans went extinct. I understood why Mum needed to stop Saren; I didn’t fancy going extinct. I just prayed that Max got off the Citadel in time. I made the call to him as we were getting away from Ilos.  
"Max? You need to get off the Citadel now." I said as soon as he answered.  
"Angie, I'm not on the Citadel. I'm on earth visiting my grandparents in Scotland." He said, and I sighed.  
"Oh, thank god." I sighed, finding myself smiling knowing he was safe.  
"Why?" He asked, curiosity in his tone.  
"There's an attack about to happen on the citadel. Mum's trying to stop it, but by the time she gets to the citadel, the fight will have already started." I explained.  
"Well, I'm safe, Angie. I hope you are too." He said, making me smile.  
"I’m glad to hear that, Max. I hope your time in Scotland is ok." I said. He said goodbye, before I hung up and headed back up to the cockpit.  
"I hope you're ready to fight a reaper, Gellie. I'm surprised Commander Shepard let you stay on the ship." Joker said as I sat down next to him.  
"There was no time to get me anywhere else. And it's not like I'm gonna get killed or anything if you're the pilot, Joker." I said, and he laughed.  
"Alright. Let's go kill a reaper."


End file.
